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Some Swiss banks are banning executives from leaving the country to preclude their detention in a global crackdown on tax evasion. Germany is trying to crack Switzerland's bank secrecy to pursue tax dodgers, and the U.S. held one private UBS banker last year as part of a tax investigation. "Today if you are a banker from Switzerland going to the U.S. you have to fear you will be taken in for questioning," said one bank chief.

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This may be the week President Barack Obama finally found his sea legs, The Economist suggests. Until now, administrative drift and poor relations with Congress have diminished his leadership, the magazine contends. "Despite his resounding electoral victory ... and the obvious goodwill of the bulk of the electorate, Mr. Obama has seemed curiously feeble," this editorial says.

Consider unconventional ways to revamp your business model by "enhancing the intrinsic motivation for paid work," advise Julian Birkinshaw and Jules Goddard of London Business School. Software company Topcoder has created a tournament-based model, while HCL Technologies, an Indian IT firm, has decided to treat its employees like customers.

Hollywood has enjoyed nearly continuous success since the talkies, despite a notoriously inefficient business model. Now, with financing scarce and downloading rampant, some say the old model is finally on the way out, writes columnist Steven Pearlstein. But what will replace it?

Amazon's Kindle isn't the only e-reader on the shelf. Seven companies are now producing the devices, which include Samsung's new $300 Papyrus and the still unavailable sleek board from Plastic Logic. Here's a rundown of the pros and cons of each one.

Layoffs mean increased workload for the remaining staff, so managers are searching for ways to enhance worker productivity. Here, one business professor provides a list of his favorite management books and describes the different approaches they take to increasing workplace focus. They range from a 1960 classic -- "The Human Side of Enterprise" -- to "Diamond Dollars: The Economics of Winning in Baseball."